Mud Doesn't Darken Irwin's Outlook

Defending Champ 2 Behind Bland

April 18, 1997|By RANDALL MELL Staff Writer

PALM BEACH GARDENS - — Hale Irwin must have enjoyed hopping up and down in mud puddles when he was a boy.

He slopped his way around the wet, mucky fairways in the first round of the PGA Seniors Championship Thursday with a boyish grin. He was out in front of his playing partners most of the day, scouting good fishing holes for buddy Brian Barnes, and getting a kick out of that big ol' snake he spotted near the 16th hole.

Irwin didn't allow a little mud on his pants or his golf ball to spoil his day.

The defending champion shot a 3-under-par 69 on the Champion Course and trails leader John Bland by two strokes.

Irwin may not have posted the lowest round of the day, but he seemed to have the most fun.

The course was soaked with heavy rains over the early part of the week, but it was bright and sunny on Thursday. Still, players were left with some wet, muddy lies. Irwin's ball was caked with mud in a fairway on No. 3, but there was no lift-and-clean rule in effect. He had 80 yards to the hole, but he couldn't wipe away the muck.

"Boy, there was terra sloppa on my ball," Irwin said. "It was very thick. It was probably a third the size of a golf ball, hanging on. If it had been a full shot, I would have been thinking `Oh, boy, I don't know where it's going to go.' But, that's OK. To me, that's the game. That's why we play here, because not everything is predictable. You have to deal with some adversity."

Irwin took his wedge and slapped the mucked-up ball within three feet of the hole, and he sank his birdie putt.

"I applaud the decision not to play lift, clean and place," said Irwin, who's seeking his second senior major victory. "It seems like every time we have a little bit of rain and there is a little speck of mud on the ball, some players scream: `Lift clean and place.' It's just part of the game. I enjoy that."

Bland shot a 5-under 67 early in the morning, when it was especially wet but calm. Gibby Gilbert, the former Hollywood resident and winner of the Royal Caribbean Classic earlier this year, posted a 69 and is tied with Irwin two shots back. Gary Player, Gil Morgan, Isao Aoki, Dale Douglass and John Schroeder each shot 70s and are three back. Jack Nicklaus shot a 71 and lurks four back.

When Bland teed off at 7:57 a.m., there were numerous fairway puddles. He took six drops out of casual water. He soared to an early lead with five birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.

The eagle vaulted Bland into the early lead, and proved to be the difference.

Bland holed a six-iron from 165 yards in the right rough on No. 9, a 395-yard par 4.

"I had a big, big shot," said Bland, who's seeking his first senior major victory. "It was always on line, and the next thing, there it is. So I had the right yardage anyway."

The wind kicked up briskly in the afternoon, helping dry up some of the puddle, though the course remained soaked.

"I didn't have any drops, any casual water, but there were a couple of lies out there that I would have liked to have dropped out of, you know," Gilbert said. "It was real testy."

It was a rewarding 69 for Gilbert during a blustery afternoon. He missed the cut here last year, his only missed cut on the senior tour. He seems to be feeling at home in South Florida now, and he ought to. He used to pump gas for his father at a filling station in Hollywood before turning pro in 1963. His mother still lives in Fort Lauderdale.

Nicklaus is a short drive from his home, and he looked comfortable despite the nagging soreness of an arthritic hip. Nicklaus could have been a shot closer but missed an 8-footer for birdie on No. 18.

"I shot 71 today, and I really didn't take advantage of the par 5s," Nicklaus said. "I was even par on the par 5s with a bogey and that hurts.

"A nice round [today) and I'm right in the middle of it."

Player is highly motivated.

"I've won nine majors on the PGA Tour and eight on the Senior PGA Tour," Player said. "I've always had the ambition to win nine and nine. If so, I'd go to my grave happy."

Arnold Palmer, 10 weeks off surgery for prostate cancer, had a good round going until he reached No. 12 and shanked two balls out of bounds from a difficult stance on the downside of a bunker. He made a nine there and finished with an 84 after shooting 37 on the front side.